Niners Drop Second in a Row Lose to Texans 24-21

The 49ers lost their third consecutive game of the season 24-21, but they didn’t make it easy on the Texans, well at least not in the second half. The first half was all Houston. The 49ers offense couldn’t do anything. Hill was 6 for 11, for 45 yards. The defense gave up 21 points in the first, they did get a little help from Arnaz Battle who muffed a punt which gave Houston an easy score. The second half was where the fun began.

Shaun Hill was on the sidelines to start the second half, which is where he should have been from week one. Alex Smith came in a got the offense going. He finished the half 15 for 22 for 206 yards, 3 touchdowns, and one interception. The offense got the team back in the game, but this time it was the defense who couldn’t stop the Texans late in the game. They gave up a big play to Andre Johnson, who by the way was quiet the whole day, which eventually setup a field goal which was the deciding factor.

With 1:38 left in the game, Alex Smith had one final chance for a comeback. Unfortunately it just wasn’t in the cards today. On 4th and 10 with around 30+ left in the game, Smith through an interception which ended the game and any chance for overtime or a victory.

Now the biggest question is, who does Mike Singletary go with next week in Indy. Shaun Hill or Alex Smith. Hopefully Smith gets the call.

Oh and almost forgot, Michael Crabtree got his first start of the season and looked really good. Finished the day with 5 catches for 56 yards. And Vernon Davis had 3 touchdown catches on the day.

The Pundit of 49ersNews. I do what I can to supply the Niner fans with their fix.

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did anyone elso notice that the O line didnt block anything when Shaun Hill was QB but when Alex came in he had all the time in the world? I wonder if O line changes were made at halftime or if the guys just like blocking for Alex better than Shaun cause that was 2 very different halfs and Alex doesnt make alot of those throws without protection……when Singletary pulled Hill I was thinking thats not really gunna change anything cause the Line cant block anyone but then all of a sudden they learned how lol funny how things like that happen

Hunterboyz

Rachal was pulled somewhere towards the end of the 2nd quarter…

I hated to see it happen, but I was like come on…

he was giving up too much big time possibilities…

wickerman

I think there are 2 reasons why alex got better protection

1) he has a better arm – much better chance he will hurt you deep if you oversell the blitz and he DOES happen to get it away. Hill is never going to throw a desperation 50 yarder.

2) Smith can run – no he isn't Mike Vick – but he can scramble and if you bring the house and he gets away from you he can bootleg and find open guys.

I also think the Oline did settle down a bit and Alex did a better job of looking for open guys. Hill seemed to have tunnel vision and lacked real awareness int he pocket. HE also has a habit (due to being a fairly slow footed QB) to only step UP int he pocket even if that means stepping into a rusher. Alex was hurried a few times, but either ran away from the rush or was able to get rid of the ball.

I am sure Sing chewed some ass in the locker room too – that prolly helped everyone. Keep in mind the defense gave up 14 points (ok 21, but Battle all but gave Houston the second TD) in the first and only 3 in the 2nd half. Certainly the whole team pulled their heads out of their butts.

Also, Alex was using alot of shotgun and 4 WR sets. It is VERY hard to bring more than 4 guys when the offense has 3,4 or even 5 WRs on the field. AFter the 1st Smith drive ended in a TD Houston probably had a lot more respect for the 9er TEs and WRs and their ability to beat 1 on 1 coverage. Not that VD seemed to have any issue with beating double coverage

Hunterboyz

They pulled Rachel… in about the finally possession of 2nd quarter…

I honestly felt it was needed.

Also… On a 2nd and long… Hill actually had Michael Robinson one on one with a Linebacker, and I think he hesitated on the long ball and thats why he was sacked by the DT that Rachel was blocking…

dosia510

hey pundit, its 2 losses in a row, not 3…….
smith looked really good and i stand corrected on my views of him, since i gave up on him a long time ago. hopefully he keeps it up. brabs looked excellent and VD was a FUCKING BEAST!!!!

as i said before, i am boycotting going to games until raye is FIRED. he is a piece of shit play caller and OC. smith may be the only chance to save his job, either way we need a better OC.

http://www.49ersnews.com John

Why are people asking who will start next week? Isnt it pretty obvious Alex will almost certainly start after his great performance. He is by far more talented then Hill and has much more to prove to see if he is our future. There is nothing Shaun can do that Alex cant do. Alex is on a vengence with a healthy shoulder, better talent around him from previous seasons, and just a much smarter and better QB now. Oh yea, he can actually throw a ball with some zip to it and a spiral looking pass. Congratultions Alex on winning the job now lets see if you can rejuvenate your career and be the Franchise QB for the San Francisco 49ers!

Hunterboyz

This was actually my first 49er game to actually “attend”, so I was very excited to see these players in real life.

One thing that killed us first of all, that no one is commenting about is !penalties!
I was like come on Niners, Lets show some discipline.

Another thing was my boy… Arnez “Battlecat”…
He’s my hometown favorite, and I was very let down by his performance. I don’t want any excuses about the sun… he just flat out let me down with the muffed kick. I honestly felt it coming though.

Our Defense in my opinion played well considering, because of the offense, they were on the field all day. The first like 3 possesions the Texans had were 3 and outs. I was just waiting on Gore to break one long one… but it never happened. I believe its hard for gore because of Hill. Hill’s limited range of passing allows for the Defense to focus on our run game, and since Hill couldn’t get the ball down field, I believe it makes defensive game planning easier.

I can see our running game greatly pick up after Smith’s arrival. That too might be attributed to Rachal’s benching. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy, but he has a lot to learn.

Can’t wait till they replace Roman…

WE need to run more play action plays…
We need to start scoring more in the 1st half… We seem to be scoring all our points in the 2nd half of our games…
We gotta learn to come out with great fight!

Oh & yea… Crabtree looks to be our receiver of the future.
No other way around that… Josh Morgan had some amazingly big calf muscles. Dre Bly is has big ears and a big nose. Nate Clements looks like somebodies old school daddy. Most of all these dudes looked like Giants to me… I’m only 5’7, so… I was just like star-struck… Pat Will-I looked like he was just a big muscle. Manny Lawson had little chicken legs. Battle looked faster than an 80 speed from Madden. Issac Bruce really doesn’t look that old. But compared to the explosiviness that he used to have I’d guess he’s like 57 now…

I love my team…
But these were just some of my thoughts at yesterdays game.